Maulana Wahiduddin Khan I The Sunday Guardian I Sep 26, 2021
Satyendra Nath Bose (1894–1974), the renowned Indian physicist specializing in mathematical physics, was best known in the early 1920s for his work on quantum mechanics. He was known to be a very hardworking student.
One of his stories from student life has a great lesson for us. While doing an MSc at Calcutta’s Presidency College, Satyendra Nath Bose once performed so well in a mathematics exam that he was quite exceptionally awarded 110 marks out of 100. He was given these extra 10 marks because he had solved some complex problems by more than one method. The great lesson that we learn from this incident is that if a person proves himself competent enough, he will be awarded more than would normally be due to him. In such a world, there can be no place for complaints or protests. All those who are engaged in what they call ‘rights activism’, would do well to understand that they could choose to follow a better course of action, that is, ‘opportunity activism’. They ought to tell people: Don’t ask for your rights, but strive to do better and you will certainly receive even more than what is your due.
All men and women are born with a divine gift, that is, unlimited potential. Discover this divine gift and avail of it by turning your potential into actuality, and you will emerge as a super achiever. You can shape your future by your own efforts. Make yourself a giver member of the society rather than a taker member.
Asking for your rights is a form of begging. When you have such great potential, why do you choose to beg? There are many so-called “empowerment” movements, like Muslim empowerment, women empowerment, economic empowerment, etc. But the greatest empowerment of all is self-empowerment.
Opt for self-empowerment, and you will certainly achieve more than you could ever have expected from others. Every man can emerge as a superman, provided he discovers this law of nature and does his best to apply it to his own life.